- Iran retains 1,500 to 2,500 missiles despite US claims of destruction
- US intelligence finds Iran's missile stockpile hard to track accurately
- Iran uses stored parts to produce new missiles and improve attack tactics
Iran still has between 1,500 and 2,500 missiles in its arsenal, according to a US intelligence assessment. So, if the war resumes, Tehran has enough weapons to attack US military bases and its allies in the Middle East.
US officials said the estimate is not fully reliable because it is difficult to track how many missiles Iran has stored or kept ready for use. However, they believe the country still has a large stockpile, according to a WSJ report.
The assessment comes despite US President Donald Trump repeatedly claiming that Iran's military has been destroyed. US and Israeli forces had targeted Iran's missile facilities during the war. But Iran has continued to rebuild its stockpile, officials said.
The report stated that Iran is using parts that it had stored earlier to make new missiles. Its production has slowed down compared to before the war, but the country still has drones and short-range missiles that it can use against its enemies. Israeli military officials also believe Iran has more than 1,500 ballistic missiles.
Simone Ledeen, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, said that even if Iran has 1,500 missiles left, it would mean that the country has rebuilt more than half of its pre-war stockpile.
Iran has continued to use missiles and drones to attack US military bases, radar systems and early-warning facilities across the Middle East.
It has also improved the way it carries out these attacks. According to officials, Iran has better information about its targets and has changed its tactics. It is also using missiles and drones together to make attacks more effective.
Bilal Saab, senior managing director of Washington-based geopolitical risk firm Trends US, said the number of missiles is not the only thing that matters. "It's not just the size of that arsenal. It's how Iran uses it, and its commanders have learned a few tricks to be more effective," he said.
Last week, Iran showed a new underground facility that it called a 'missile city', according to The Times of Israel. The development came days after a Western official told Bloomberg that Iran could still have at least 1,700 ballistic missiles. The official also said Iran was producing up to 50 new missiles every month.
A Wall Street Journal report in April said the country had thousands of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles at these sites. US and Israeli strikes had blocked the entrances to some of these facilities. However, satellite images later showed that Iran had managed to clear the debris and regain access to some of them.
Another report in September said Iran had restarted ballistic missile production using parts it had stored earlier.
Speaking at a Veterans Day event on Wednesday, Trump said, "We won." He added, "Now the question is when we want to end. We must have a total victory, not a 93 per cent victory. It's going to be total," Fox News reported.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also claimed on Tuesday that Iran's defence-industrial base had been destroyed. He said more than 80 per cent of the country's nuclear-industrial base had also been damaged. "By every measure we achieved a historic military victory," he said, according to the Iran International.
Meanwhile, explosions were heard in Bahrain early Sunday after Iran claimed it had attacked a US military base in the Gulf country. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked a US military base in Bahrain in response to what it called "hostile US actions".
However, there was no immediate confirmation of the attack from US or Bahraini authorities.
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